Woodstock (near Bendigo)

Woodstock is a rural district on Little Creek, 23 km west of Bendigo. The creek is a tributary of the Loddon River, and Woodstock West is quite near the Loddon.

A school, named Woodstock-on-Loddon, was opened in 1864. Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer for 1865, gave Woodstock the alternate name of Loddon, and described it being on a plain with a mostly dry creek. There were two hotels, and farming was pastoral and agricultural. A Presbyterian church was opened in 1867, a Bible Christian chapel in 1869 and a Catholic church in 1877.

The Woodstock district was sufficiently large for schools to function at Woodstock South and Woodstock North. The latter substituted for the original (1864) school which closed in 1902. The last school closure, Woodstock West, was in 1967.

Throughout its existence Woodstock has been an agricultural district with the chief civic amenities being the local schools and churches, now closed. A tennis court (1927) next to the Woodstock hall has been used by local players who were district premiers in the 1980s and 1990s. There is also a district fire brigade.

Woodstock and Woodstock West’s census populations have been: